The professor of creativity Juan Munoz published his newsletter for 162 consecutive weeks. Here's how his experiments paid off. |

What happens if schools learn in the wrong direction? This is how professor of university creativity Juan Munoz is making more an impact in his work as a creator through making himself a better student.

On the first day of classes, creative and innovation professor Juan Munoz instructed his students that they were free to submit their assignments in any manner they liked.

"It is possible to write it down, it can be written in your own handwriting, it can be typed by a computer. It can be a video, you can make it a podcast, are free to do what you wish to do. If you'd prefer to send a messenger dove with your homework it's okay. It's not necessary to be confined by a newspaper and Google Doc," he advised.

However, even with this liberty His students from his university produced identical PDFs that had identical formatting each and every time.

"I was so frustrated," Juan remembers. "I considered this to be one of the easiest tasks on earth. How are they going to learn creativity if they can't accomplish this?"

As the pattern continued, Juan wondered if there an issue of greater importance at play.

"Students were taught programming through ten or 15 years of schools for ten, fifteen years. The school has taught them that whether you're great or not good, you'll be given an unfavorable grade if you deviate from whatever guidelines your teacher has given them to follow. There's an intrinsic fear of deviating from the standard path."

Juan realized the fact that internalized programming had a negative impact on creativity and he wanted to change the way things were done.

Juan loved teaching, but was frustrated by the regulations at the university. When he had free time and reading TechCrunch as well as other publications for entrepreneurs and was given an idea for a business.

In the beginning, there was no thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country where Juan grew up, Costa Rica, so Juan was determined to assist in getting the ball rolling.

"I have a civil engineering degree and knew that some people might ask, "What is this person's knowledge of business?' The first step I took was to put all my thoughts down in a blog and disseminated them. I launched my creator career by sharing my ideas online and sharing what I'm able to achieve."

Today, Juan teaches creativity, goals-setting, entrepreneurship, as well as business via his online education platform called Epico Academia . It offers online courses as well as a collection of no-cost workshops, and a paid monthly email newsletter that helps users live more artistic and epic lives.

This is how trying new things, exploring unexpected paths, and continually learning has helped Juan create a successful online business and unlock an entrepreneurial approach that is holistic that is rewarding and enjoyable.

How do you provide information without making it make it feel as if you're in a classroom

Based on his previous experience in creating courses in his position as an university professor producing content wasn't an issue for Juan. It was just a matter of figuring out the most effective method of delivering the material.

"The biggest friction is getting the public to engage with the material we create," Juan shares.

"People purchase a course and only a handful will go through the course. It feels like being in school. If nobody's compelled me to take part and I'm attracted, my mind goes into school mode. There's a teacher. are classes, and there are classes."

Then Juan began to experiment with different ways he could get his content to his audience.

"What is the likelihood of me trying an electronic course in which you get a great weekly email for the duration of a year ? or TikTok-style content, only 30 second videos. Can I create course using a ton of 30 second videos? Perhaps. I'll test it to see if it's effective."

"I am awestruck by the ability to make basically any content I'd like, in the arrangement I'd like. I can create a course that's just 100, 30-second videos and have people go through the course."

One experiment that paid off was a Monday-focused email newsletter

When it comes to experimenting, Juan decided to try something new and different and found himself creating one of his top asset: The Monday newsletter .

At the beginning of his business online, Juan noticed a trend.

"Every Sunday night, and on the Monday before, folks would share memes on how they dislike Mondays." Juan says. "I realized that there is every day going to be the Monday. You can't escape it. So why are you still in a bind about this?"

"I started realizing these are people who call me to say, 'I don't like my life, I don't like my job and I'd like to get better, There was an underlying pattern. I love marketing and branding, and I thought this could be an intriguing brand idea because it's easy to be a grumpy Monday. There's already a club to help you with that and it's a huge club. But how do you do the opposite?"

Juan started a newsletter all about the way he enjoyed Mondays, and he would share a tip, concept, or idea that would aid his readers to get the most out of their days.

"It attracted lots of people because people were unhappy with something within their lives, and I was talking about methods to make their lives more pleasant. This made them think, 'Why you think I hate Monday?'"

Today, this experiment-turned-newsletter continues to grow through word-of-mouth referrals, and Juan still loves writing it every week.

To be a better creator, learn as much information that you can on subjects you're interested in.

Not every idea comes together as seamlessly as the weekly newsletter on Monday or the Monday newsletter. Juan discovered that the most effective way to clarify the content or product idea was to be a student again.

"I'm constantly amazed by the privilege to live in a place in which we learn from anyone and anyone can take lessons from us. It's amazing. If I'm into marbles I could find someone that's so much interested in marbles and teach me new things. They can be in Singapore and I may not know their name however I could take advantage of their knowledge."

In order to be a successful writer today, learn as much as you can about the topics you love.

"I urge people to consume whatever they're curious about," Juan recommends. "Often you can even find no-cost content on social networks. And when you consume content, you realize, it's not all that complicated. The guy is speaking about marbles. There is no requirement to be the Ph.D. in a subject."

"There was a time when there were specialists," Juan explains. "There were experts who could know everything about one subject because there was only a tiny quantity of data available. There wasn't infinite information like the information we get today. that information was sequestered in a place. It was clear that there was one person who was knowledgeable about everything, and they were experts. However, that's not the case anymore."

"There are many people that know a lot but there's many who are a bit knowledgeable however there's always somebody with less knowledge than you. You can create the content they need and still have a big impact."

In essence, the more you go out and discover, the greater information you'll be able to impart to others in your life. If you're feeling stuck on the best way to impart knowledge take a break and try becoming a student again to rekindle your passion.

Imagine if you had created something just for the sake of making them?

One of the most important learnings Juan discovered during his entrepreneurial adventure was that there are a variety of ways people can be passionate about their work.

It shouldn't just be focused on achieving a specific outcome, financial milestone, or follower count. Find a way to strike a balance between Telic and Atelic goals.

"Telic goals" are those that have a very fixed end-product that is easily measured. Atelic goals are good to pursue for the purpose of doing them. It is my opinion that people should think about creating with both types of goals in their minds," Juan shares.

"If you're actually helping other people, then it doesn't matter whether you help one person or one million."

Plus, there's value in the fact that your work exists within the global community.

"If you post a tweet, Instagram posting  or video but nobody is able to see the message, it's not gone. It will be discovered by someone eventually. Additionally, getting people to like an article and helping other people through your post are two very different items. I am a fan of many items that I never double-tap. If no one has double-tapped your post or liked your tweet does not mean that it isn't valuable."

"Creating is a very visceral experience. It's emotion, it's vulnerable, it's very honest," Juan relates. "It's an image of your personality and what you think, and putting that up for public display and letting no one engage with it is just awful."

"But even if no one buys it, it's still valuable. The lessons you learned are still valuable. You can use that knowledge to help you with your next job or anywhere. No one can ever take it from you. That's soul bound."

To keep in touch to what is important, Juan explains how important it is to remember where you came from and to celebrate all you've accomplished in the past.

"I recommend that creators keep journals, and reflect on the work you're currently doing by looking at yourself five years ago, the past ten years or even 20 years ago. Think about what you'd be thinking about the work you're doing today. In the past, you'd probably believe that it was great."

And lastly, Juan reminds creators that the most important thing is getting the work in the marketplace. This is not about achieving the highest number of sales, followers or customers.

"I consider it arrogant think that people will not like your product. You're making an assumption for another. You let them decide. If they want it, they'll buy it. If they don't, they'll not. You just have to make accessible to the people who need it. Be more mind-blown by the world around you, study all you can, and make decisions that others will take their own choices."

"Create your idea and get it on the market, Juan says. "You never know what will occur next."